The Ambassador

Ch.4 : The Great Barrier

"So you're the shadow that's been lingering around me for the last few years. I guess Greenie isn't a good name for you anymore." She smirked.

"Do ye know how much it sucks to be a fuckin' fart on this plane?" Anti rolled his eyes. "Yer at least bearable."

"I'll take the as a compliment." She leaned onto the stick, "But we can catch up later, I need you to tell me what's going on."

"I'm about as clueless as you are, lass." Anti shrugged his shoulders.

"My Mia called you Contrarium and —"

His eyes briefly grew brighter once saying his name.

"What just happened?"

"Ye said me name, me real name, so keep it down would yah. I don't want anyone getting ahold of that."

(Y/n) raised a brow knowing full well no one in the woods was going to hear her.

"Fine," She agreed, "But she called you by your name, like she knew you. Does she know you, or do you know her?"

"Yer Mia or whatever the fuck ye call her is well known in the demon community. She's a powerful bitch."

"Hey!" (Y/n) called out, "Don't call my Mia a bitch."

"She held her damn staff at you, (Y/n)." He crossed his arms and leaned against the tree behind him.

"She — well — I mean..."

He had a point and a strong one at that. (Y/n) would never go as far as calling her Mia a bitch but she was absolutely questioning her actions. Her own mother held her in a chokehold and Mia pointed her weapon at her.

Contra had never done anything to prove to be a Shadow worth killing, but that was as far as she knew. She wondered about his past now and what had been explained to her the minutes leading up to tonight's events.

"Exactly," Contra confirmed. "And she did it on purpose to lure me out. Risks her own flesh and blood and I'M the bad guy. Sheesh."

"I can't go back home..." (Y/n) stared at the ground. "Not for a while anyway."

"Ye don't need them, Lass. Ye have me!"

He pointed to himself with enthusiasm and pride but it didn't do too much other than make her laugh.

"As much as I appreciate that, you can't really do much without me, as it seems." She pointed down at the line of energy that kept him physical.

"Hey, I can do a lot." He argued.

"Well, you'll get your chance to prove it now that we can talk."

_______________________

"Up early?" Mia spoke.

Olivia sat on the couch reading a book. She hadn't slept at all in reality due to the worries of her daughter but also the world.

"You could say that..." She closed the book and rubbed her eyes. "How did you sleep?"

"Not well," Mia sat down on the couch next to her.

For the time being her walking stick was replaced by her late husband's cane that he used. She didn't like it.

"I am unable to fix my staff..."

"What? Why can't you fix it?"

The wood itself was old but with its wielder was more durable. Without its wielder, the wood was just a piece of wood. A normal person didn't break it, another Protector did, with hatred in their intentions. The wood was practically useless now and the only way to achieve another useable piece was to craft yet another.

The problem came in when Mia was the only one who could do it. She wasn't young at all and to go through the process of making a new staff could take days.

"I can't even break a piece off the tree out back?" Olivia argued.

"I'm afraid not. On the bright side, I am able to make another. I don't know if I will finish in time..."

"You don't think the barrier will hold, do you?"

Each staff not only matched with their wielder but also held the important role of an invisible barrier. It was important that each Protector had their own staff. The more staffs, the stronger the barrier. The strength of the barrier laid with the strength of the Protector and with one of the strongest Protectors without their weapon.

With Mia's staff gone the barrier is at its weakest.

"I'll have to alert the other members." She began walking over to the phone pulling out an old contact list. "And you will have to take my place in the meantime. No part-time Protecting for you anymore."

"Mom, I work, and (Y/n) is still gone," Olivia argued.

"(Y/n) is a strong girl and she will return. When she does don't try to take on the shadow yourself."

"She won't come back if we're going to kill her friend."

Mia sighed. She knew (Y/n) wouldn't hand over Contra, but she also lacked the understanding behind who he was. What confused her more though was the fact he hadn't done anything to her, even with his violent nature.

"She will survive then. She is powerful and as long as she has her staff she'll be okay."

"I hope you're right."

___________________________

"You know, Contra, ever since last night things feel weird, like — in the air —"

She stopped walking and established a physical connection with him so he could talk.

"There was an energy shift," He spoke as the last of him became solid. "Ye broke yer Mia's staff. She's real powerful. Didn't she teach you all of this?"

(Y/n) leaned on the wood fidgeting the beads on the string. "Yeah, a Protector's staff is like part of a big ass barricade that keeps you guys from coming here."

"And yer gram's staff was a big hold on that." He cracked his fingers, "And If I know me fellow demon counterparts as I do, then that barricade won't hold long."

"Wait, what does that mean? If the barricade falls?"

Worry struck her as the information poured in.

Anti smirked, "Well, ye won't need yer little magic trick to keep me physical. I'll be s̷̗̖̮͑t̵͍̗̼͍͋r̶̡͈̗͎̓̾̓͠o̶̢͗͆̕͝ṉ̵̝͠g̶͇̗͓̣̒̇͘ e̶̹̱͓͍͂͒̀n̷̪̯̘̎o̸̗̾͜ú̵̹̳̳̱͠ġ̵̢͇͓͎͛̔͠h̴̩̮̳̓̀ to have me own form."

The sound of Anti's voice struck fear into (Y/n) causing her to jump back a bit. There was a look in his eyes she'd never seen before. Something she'd only see in regular Shadows.

When she moved back the staff fell over breaking the connection.

"No! Lass, wait! I didn't mean—"

Before he could finish he went back to being a Shadow creature, but one who felt bad for striking fear into her. His eyes showed it.

"Anti...I feel like...there's a lot of things I don't know about you and...I think some of it is going to change things..."

(Y/n) stood up and brushed herself off before picking up her staff and establishing the connection again.

"Fer a second there I thought you were going to hurt me."

"No, it's just — your voice it sounded —"

"Like a glitch from a computer er somethin', I know its — I've adapted..." He reached back and rubbed his neck. "There's just a lot ye don't know."

"It seems like I'm the only one that doesn't know anything." (Y/n) rolled her eyes. "Maybe I should have just been trained properly. Maybe I would know more."

"I've dealt with enough protectors to know a thing er two."

"Oh, so you're going to train me?" She scoffed.

"Listen, you help me. I'll help you. I'll tell ye everything I know."